LLAZAR SEMINI
April 07, 2008 10:36 AM
TIRANA, Albania-A dispute between Greece and Macedonia that blocked the former Yugoslav republic from being invited to join NATO last week could lead to instability unless the issue is resolved, Albania’s prime minister said Monday.
Last week NATO leaders agreed at a summit in Romania to invite Albania and Croatia to join the alliance. But Greece blocked Macedonia’s invitation. Athens says the country’s name implies a territorial claim to a northern Greek province called Macedonia, and says it cannot allow its northern neighbor to join until the name issue is resolved.
U.N.-mediated talks have failed to resolve the 17-year dispute.
The continued lack of a solution could encourage radical ethnic groups in Macedonia, and that would "become a problem for the region," Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha told The Associated Press in an interview.
Ethnic Albanians make up between a quarter and a third of Macedonia’s population, and ethnic Albanian rebels fought a brief war against government forces in 2001. Relations between the two communities are still tense.
"If there is a deadlock, then there is a real possibility of encouraging radical groups of all ethnic communities," he said. He did not elaborate on the reasons why he thought the issue of NATO membership might inflame ethnic tensions within the country.
"I don’t believe that such a very important country (Macedonia) for peace and stability in the region will remain an unintegrated island," he said.
Berisha urged both Macedonia and Greece to reach consensus on the name issue.
"I don’t believe Greece will abuse its veto and also do not believe that the Macedonian side will be intransigent to an acceptable consensus solution," Berisha told the AP.
Albania has long sought to shake off its reputation as one of Europe’s poorest countries and join NATO. Berisha said that after last week’s invitation to join the alliance, his country would send an additional two army units to Afghanistan to help train the Afghan army, and it would also send an army unit to Darfur.
Albania already has a total of 350 troops in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and discussions are under way to increase that by 100, Berisha said.
He was reluctant to say whether he believed Albania would meet all the criteria to become a fully fledged NATO member by the alliance’s summit next year, but said the country would do all it could. Necessary reforms include changes to the electoral system, justice system and army.
"NATO membership ... means a free and safe future to Albania, precisely what it has lacked during all its history," said Berisha.
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